Aphrodite on a wing and prayer

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The favourite in the world's first albatross steeplechase, believed dead after her transponder signal failed for over a week, could cross the finish line as early as today. Trouble is she's already been disqualified.

After a migration of almost 10,000 kilometres, Aphrodite is nearing the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, the culmination of the Big Bird Race organised by the Conservation Foundation, the Tasmanian Government and gambling giant Ladbrokes.

"Aphrodite is very, very close to crossing the finish line. Probably the next time she transmits, we reckon she'll be across it," said event creator and Conservation Foundation spokesman Tim Nevard.

Overcoming the expanse of the Southern Ocean, the potential winner - the only competitor so far to leave the Great Australian Bight - is fishing off the South African coast.

"She's flown all the way across the Indian Ocean and obviously that's a pretty tiring thing," he said.

Aphrodite is transmitting only intermittently and was disqualified when her satellite signal failed. However, she is far ahead of any competitors and punters who backed her from the 18 Tasmanian shy albatrosses being monitored will be paid. Several competitors are believed dead, although no deaths are yet confirmed, potentially victims of the stormy weather and/or predators.

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Transmitter problems and the complicated combination of a French satellite, American software, New Zealand components and Australian organisers have caused difficulties in tracking the fledgling birds as they undertake one of the world's longest migrations.

"We've sort of strapped the equivalent technology of a laptop to the back of a bird, and it's in the middle of the ocean," said Mr Nevard. The race aims to provide scientific information about the birds' migration patterns and the dangers posed by long-line fishing, which kills about 30,000 seabirds each year.